<p>My senior D and I will be visiting Rice the second weekend in November. She has an interview scheduled at 11AM Saturday, and we will take a tour, sit in on classes, etc. on Monday before we fly home. What suggestions do you have for things to do the rest of the weekend so that she can get a good feel for Rice and Houston? (At this point we do not plan on renting a car.) Any recommendations for good restaurants near campus? We both enjoy dance and musical theater....anybody know of any performances going on Nov. 10 or Nov. 11? Thanks so much for any input.</p>
<p>For restaurants: Patu. Houston has great Thai food, and Patu is my favorite. Prego is also great, but it's not necessarily representative of what Rice students normally eat. My friends and I go there when we feel like splurging (we usually stick to the first page of the menu, though, so it's still under $20.) Both are in the Rice Village. There's also great Tex-Mex that would be fantastic for lunch, but I don't know any within walking distance of campus.</p>
<p>If you enjoy musical theater, Brown College is doing Jesus Christ Superstar and Hanszen is doing You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown that weekend. It will be opening weekend for Brown and closing weekend for Hanszen. I don't know about the 11th. If Avenue Q is still in town then (and tickets still available), you could take the light rail downtown to the Hobby Center. My friends and I did that on Sunday, and it was amazing.</p>
<p>If there's still time to request an overnight, go ahead and do it. There's nothing that will help you get a feel for a campus like an overnight visit.</p>
<p>That's good advice. Spend some time wandering around Rice Village (shops and restaurants). There is a mix of upscale chain stores like Urban Outfitters, Banana etc and small boutiques. Good food, too- including a NY style deli and some good breakfast places.
Go to the student performances- they are amazing.</p>
<p>D loves the Texadelphia restaurant in Rice Village. The Houston Museum of Natural Science (a short walk and/or on the train stop) has the permanent Butterfly Center that is always fun to walk through. And they have great temporary exhibits that you should check out including "Lucy's Legacy" and "Frogs" (<a href="http://www.hmns.org)%5B/url%5D">http://www.hmns.org)</a>. No, I don't work for the Museum! I just think its a great place and so convenient!</p>
<p>We ate at Hugo's. Some of the best authentic high end Mexican food I have ever had. We had to stop ordering:).</p>
<p>I am not sure however that it's walking distance from Rice:( although in a car it is close by.</p>
<p>You can go to lunch with a student following your tour. It might be a good idea.</p>
<p>The suggestions to go to Rice Village and the Museum of Natural Science are good. If art museums are more your thing, both the Museum of Fine Arts - Houston and the Contemporary Art Museum are in walking distance. You could also go to Hermann Park -it's a nice place for a picnic, particularly in the Japanese Gardens. The zoo is in walking distance and that's kind of fun.</p>
<p>You could take the light rail downtown and go to the Angelika for the movies. The often have art house films in addition to more mainstream things. Check out the Alley Theater's webpage, or the website for the Hobby Center. You can also check these sites:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.houstonsymphony.org%5B/url%5D">www.houstonsymphony.org</a>
<a href="http://www.houstongrandopera.org%5B/url%5D">www.houstongrandopera.org</a>
<a href="http://www.houstonballet.org%5B/url%5D">www.houstonballet.org</a>
<a href="http://www.milleroutdoortheater.org%5B/url%5D">www.milleroutdoortheater.org</a></p>
<p>We love the Indian restuarant in Rice village (sheba's?? Can't remember the name, but it's the only one and they have a very nice buffet.) Walk around the zoo across the street. (I've never done that, but one day I will!)</p>
<p>anxiousmom -- you must be thinking of Shiva Indian Restaurant. That's a favorite of mine too. They have a good lunch buffet.</p>
<p>Everyone else beat me to the punch with the suggestions -- but I agree with checking out Rice Village, and taking the light rail one stop and going to either the Houston Museum of Natural Science or the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. They're both really wonderful museums.</p>
<p>Restaurants that are walkable to Rice that I like in Rice Village are Prego (upscale Italian), Shiva (Indian), Miss Saigon (Vietnamese), Ruggles (American), Kahn's Deli (Jewish deli - open only for lunch) and Benjy's (maybe a little too far to walk, but really great food and a wonderful brunch).</p>
<p>Here's a link to what's at Rice Village: <a href="http://www.ricevillageonline.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.ricevillageonline.com/</a></p>
<p>And Alumother -- I'm very impressed you found Hugo's. That's a great restaurant. One of Houston's strengths is it's vast number of wonderful restaurants at reasonable prices and of all types.</p>
<p>Enjoy your visit and let us know if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for such great info....we certainly won't starve!</p>
<p>Go to Jesus Christ Superstar instead of Charlie Brown. I'm in the JCSS pit! (plus our show is just plain better)</p>
<p>JCSS probably is going to be better than Charlie Brown. I'm not a huge fan of either musical, but I am still going to both.</p>
<p>Hehe I kind of cheated with Hugo's because my college roomate is a Houston native and still lives there so she told me about it:). Her son also took my son to barbecue one night. He absolutely loved it.</p>
<p>I hear Houston wins recognition for being one of the top 5 restaurant cities in the US - NYC, Miami, Houston, San Francisco, LA or Chicago etc....</p>
<p>Yum. Food.</p>
<p>I live in near Houston, but I haven't been able to really explore the city. Hopefully (if I get into Rice), I'll get the chance to do just that.</p>
<p>We plan on going to JCSS on Sat. Nov. 10 but I am not finding any info. when I look at the Brown College home page. Do we just buy tickets at the door? Thanks!</p>
<p>Shows will be at 8:00 pm in the Brown Commons. Admissions for general public is $7 (at the door).</p>
<p>Definitely walk around Rice Village, because that's where the students hang out a lot. </p>
<p>The museum district is pretty sweet. It's not far from campus and there's a lot to do. </p>
<p>And of course Houston has the original Galleria, so if you're a shopper you should check it out.</p>
<p>Charlie Brown's got another weekend after this one. Friday and Saturday, both at 8 pm in the Hanszen commons. Tickets are $5, sold at the door.</p>
<p>Just saw it yesterday and it was actually really good!</p>